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ZEISS, CARL
theoretical research and mathematical modelling. They
combined high quality, large apertures, colour accuracy
and minimal distortion—all essential characteristics in
a microscope lens.
In 1881, Abbe met Dr. Friedrich Otto Schott, who
had achieved his doctorate in glass science a few years
earlier. Combining Abbe’s scientifi c approach with
Schott’s researches into the manufacture of high quality
mineral-rich glasses—using phosphorus, lithium and
boron—paved the way for the development a whole new
generation of lenses, including the fi rst apochromatic
(or fully colour-corrected) lenses, eliminating chromatic
aberration, the bane of microscope users. Before then,
achromats had been corrected for only two of the three
primary colours.
Schott and Associates Glass Technology Laboratory,
a partnership between Zeiss and Schott, was formed in
- With Abbe’s scientifi c approach applied to the
manufacture of glasses, and the introduction of new
and precisely computed ingredients, over a hundred
new types of glass were developed. Zeiss lenses by the
1880s were recognised the world over for their optical
purity and accuracy.
Carl Zeiss died in 1888 and control of the Zeiss Opti-
cal Works passed to Abbe, who had been a partner since
the mid 1870s. In the following year Abbe transferred
ownership of the company to the Carl Zeiss Foundation,
together with their interests in Schott’s glassworks. The
purpose of the foundation was to fund research, and also
to initiate social and workplace reforms. It is reported
that by 1900, Zeiss workers enjoyed profi t-sharing, an
eight hour working day, paid annual holidays, a basic
health-care plan, and retirement pension. A century ago
such benefi ts was revolutionary.
The fi rst years after Carl Zeiss’s death saw the com-
pany develop a series of camera lenses which were to
endure for a century and more. The Zeiss Planar (1896)
and Tessar (1902) are perhaps the most long-lived lens
designs in the history of photography.
John Hannavy
See also: Schott, Friedrich Otto, and Abbe, Ernst Karl.
Further Reading
Auerbach, Das Zeisswerk und die Karl Zeiss-Stiftung in Jena,
Jena, 1907.
Kingslake, Rudolf, A History of the Photographic Lens, London:
Academic Press, 1989.
Leonhardt, Ute, Haueis, Otto, and Wimmer, Wolfgang, Carl Zeiss
in Jena 1846 bis 1946, Erfurt: Sutton Verlag GmbH, 2004.
ZIEGLER, JULE (1804—1856)
Jule Ziegler was a celebrated painter of the July Mo-
narchy, ceramist, and photographer. His contribution to
photography is manifold. Of an inventive spirit, Jules
Ziegler performed many experiments on techniques,
optics, and color. From the early 1840s, he was devoted
to the daguerreotype and improved its coloring. In 1851,
he was one of the fi rst in France to use wet collodion.
The same year, he joined the management committee
of the Société heliographique and he was awarded a
certifi cate for his photography at the Great Exhibition at
the Crystal Palace, London 1851. He wrote many articles
for La Lumière and a report on photography for the Paris
Exposition Universelle of 1855. Ziegler’s work exhib-
ited similarities with that of his friend Hippolyte Bayard,
who did his portrait with the daguerreotype in 1844
(SFP), as well as with the topics of the compositions:
still lifes, sculptures, reproductions of antiques (Venus
de Milo), and views of his garden. He used photography
to emphasize his work as ceramist; sandstone vases of
his manufacture are reproduced in several negatives
(girl in front of the Vase with the twelve apostles). The
museum of Langres preserved a set of his photographs,
including compositions with sculptures and vases and
the Pallet of the painter.
Hélène BocardZILLE, HEINRICH (1858–1929)
Heinrich Zille was a draughtsman and famous Berlin
engraver, author of albums, and collaborator of satirical
newspapers. In about 1887, he started photography as a
way to aid. He initially photographed his family, then
chronicled the proletariat with a series of the women at
the market, men returning home from work, children in
the streets, and fairs. He also took portraits of artists in
their workshops and he completed nude studies as well.
By 1914, he took hundreds of negatives on glass plates
of gelatine-bromide. Zille never published his photo-
graphs, which he regarded as working tools. Discovered
in the 1960s, they were appreciated for their modernity:
instantaneous with the characters captured in full action,
sometimes seen from the back, walking. His images also
had a persistent fl at spaces, inscriptions, and lines that
created dynamic effects (crossroads, scaffolding).
Through his unique artistic eye, Zille drew attention
to the grounds, the palisades, and the walls thought to be
common. His images of the poor district, Krögel were
described as having direct vision, without an aesthetic
research or anecdote. Dependent on the Berliner Seces-
sion, Zille always remained outside of any aesthetic
contemporary category. If his work is connected with
naturalism, it is only because he approached the expres-
sionists by simplifying the human form to the point of
making a prototype of it. The originality of his vision on
certain topics (shops) was pointed out by Eugene Atget.
These images in fact are documents of great value on
the social dimension of Berlin in 1900.
Hélène Bocard